Easier Said Than Done
by chanceof-rain
Summary: [Life with Derek] Casey told herself two years ago that she'd ignore Derek and all he represents, but its easier said than done. Now they're seniors with prom so close at hand. With a bit of high school drama, what's to happen with Derek & Casey?
1. Introduction

Hello! This fanfiction is the first that I've written in about two years, so bear with me. When I watched Life With Derek, I was extremely in love with it & saw the potential relationship between Derek and Casey. I do not find it incest since they're not blood-related and just met each other during their teenage years.

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places from Life with Derek._

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**Introduction**

Casey despised his stupid smirk, his horrid taunts, and his dreaded self. Popularity and wit were all he could stand on, but she vowed never to let him get to her.

That is what she told herself two years ago. But there were always those four words in the way: Easier said than done.

It seemed simple to ignore his elementary teasing, to forget his phrases, and to put on a poker face, hoping that he'd stop. If she could only show him that she didn't care about what he said, it was possible that he'd give up.

The only problem was that he never gave up … and she never stopped caring.

Derek told himself constantly that surrendering was not what the Venturi way to handle these situations, or any situation for that matter. Pursuing what he wanted, on the other hand, was his specialty. What he wanted, he always got.

It was true that he found her amusing. Something about her has got him hooked. It's not his fault that her reactions to his witty comments are priceless. But it is his fault that she can shoot insults back in a flash now. They've gone at it too many times for her not to get better. Her ability to present such yells, hidden sneers, charm, wit, and tears: They are his own entire masterpiece and he's not afraid to take credit.

Only he can get her riled up. Only he can cause her to become passionate with anger, hurt, and attraction. What Derek wants, Derek gets…In this case, its Casey, fiery soul and all.


	2. Sorries & Screams

Hope you enjoyed the introduction, now let's get the party started.

_Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Disney TV show, Life with Derek._

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**Chapter 01**

Lizzie went into Casey's room casually and plopped herself onto the bed.

"Wake up!" Lizzie said, poking her sister's arms, "Come on…What are you, Sleeping Beauty?"

Casey groaned and rolled over until she heard Derek's voice. Oh how she despised that voice of his. It was taunting, annoying, and was not helpful at the moment.

"I understood the sleeping part, but you lost me at beauty," Derek smirked, leaning to the side of the doorway.

"Dere-," Lizzie started, but was cut off by Casey.

Casey had already sat herself up and glared at him, "As if you're one to talk."

"Hey, I'm not the one who looks like a troll," he said, putting his hands up in the air as if he was innocent and walked downstairs.

Casey sighed and didn't bother yelling back at him or fixing up her hair. She motioned her sister to go downstairs, letting her know that she wasn't in the mood. It wasn't until after dinner that their mother came up with some leftovers.

"Casey, dear, are you alright?" she asked, setting the food next to her. The only response was a nod until the awkward silence forced her mom to leave the room.

The truth was that she and Sam had another fight. It wasn't that he was a bad boyfriend or she was a horrible girlfriend, they just weren't clicking anymore. They fought for hours over the smallest things. Each fight ended in screaming and tears and each quarrel put their relationship on the line.

This time it was about Casey not hanging out with him after school because she went out with Emily to work on their senior portfolios instead. Sam had yelled at her after trying to control his anger for some time, resulting in her screaming back. She couldn't get him to understand that she had her own life, too. She hated that no one ever saw him as the bad guy. Everyone understood his side of the story and concluded that she was the imperfect one. If only they knew what he was really like.

"Yo, dweeb. Its Sam, think fast," Derek threw the phone at her after barging into her room and slammed the door.

It wasn't any better that Sam and Derek were best friends.

"Hello," Casey said, grudgingly.

"Hey," Sam replied in his normal, casual voice, "I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"You always say that, but when do you ever mean it?"

Their conversation ended two hours later after Casey hung up and threw the phone at the foot of her bed. She turned over and screamed into her pillow until the tears stopped falling. Senior Prom was in three weeks and she wasn't sure she wanted to go with her own boyfriend anymore. Not if the night would end like this. What a way to remember her last year of high school.


	3. Dogs & Chapstick

Hello! Here's the second chapter for you all. Nothing extremely exciting yet. That's yet to come, but bear with me!

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Life with Derek.  
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Derek walked into Casey's room, surprised that she was still asleep. She was never the one oversleeping, but it didn't bother him because it was easier to steal her hairbrush that way. Marti had 'accidentally' thrown his brush in the toilet after he refused to dress up as Princess Shmerek for school. Sure, he wasn't a health freak, but he knew that if something was dropped in the toilet, it shouldn't be used anytime soon. He walked over to her drawer where Casey had kept all her girly accessories and make up organized neatly on top. He stared at it, half amused and half in awe of how ordered even her everyday necessities were.

Smirking, Derek put the brush in his pocket and glanced quickly at Casey before doing a double take. She looked stupid and, well, kind of cute cuddling with a dumb-looking dog stuffed animal. It wasn't until that moment that he remembered that last year, his dad forced him and Edwin to buy Casey a _nice_ birthday present from the Venturi side of the family. Since neither of them knew what the heck a "nice" present for her would be, they stuck with the simple rule for getting girls gifts: If all else fails, get something cute. The dog that Casey was holding was what they had bought her.

Derek walked over to the bed and snatched the dog out of her arms, causing Casey to wake up.

"Nnn," Casey rubbed her eyes before nearly freaking out, "Derek!"

"So why do you sleep with this?" He asked, holding the dog awkwardly and turning it around above his head to examine it, "Pretending you're hugging Sammy again? I'd hate, no I'd love to see what you do to this thing when you dream about naughty things."

She reached up and grabbed it from him, "Derek! What are you doing in here?"

"I needed—"

Derek was cut off by a loud yell, "Casey! Derek! Breakfast!"

Casey glared at her annoying stepbrother, "Get out of here."

"As you wish, Ice Queen."

When he left, after a bow of course, Casey mumbled incoherent phrases involving the words "jerk", "sleeping", and "naughty things". If anyone had walked in at that very moment, they would have no clue she was talking about Derek.

Casey rushed downstairs in a quick and plain outfit of blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Her hair was tossed around messily because she couldn't find her brush.

"Casey, your hair's a mess," Lizzie said and nudged Edwin's knee with hers to stop his laughing.

"Did anyone tell you that you look ten times more disgusting today?" Derek asked and tossed her brush in front of her.

Casey stared at him, "Did anyone tell you that you look a million times more atrocious today? How many times do I have to tell you not to take my things without my permission!"

"Not enough?" Edwin answered with an apologetic smile.

Casey made a frustrated noise and brushed her hair, grabbing a banana to eat.

"Case, lets go. Why do you take forever to get ready?" Derek asked, waiting by the door.

She hit his arm with her bag, "Its not my fault, you imbecile."

Derek rubbed his arm and winked at Edwin before following Casey. Edwin laughed and shook his head before finishing his cereal.

"What was that?" Lizzie inquired, looking very confused.

He shrugged, "What was what?"

"The wink."

"Oh that? No clue, but he sure as hell looked dumb winking," Edwin said and they both busted out in laughter.

-----

Derek got in the front seat and gave a weird smile to his stepsister who was sitting in the passenger seat beside him. He started driving and kept his left hand lazily on the steering wheel and his right on the stick shift. His driving was pretty darn smooth for stick shift and he wasn't ever ashamed to brag about it. You know what they say about guys who drive smoothly … Right, Derek didn't know either, but he managed to make up a few sayings here and there about it.

"What're you smirking at," Casey asked defensively.

"You forgot to put on your make-up."

"I what!" Casey pulled down the visor and looked at her reflection in the small mirror, "What the… You're right!"

"Calm down, its not the end of the world," Derek said, idly thinking that she had to be one of the only chicks he knew that could pull off not wearing make-up.

Casey ignored him and searched frantically through her backpack, threw an eraser at his head purposely and groaned, "I don't have any!"

"Ouch! Here's some chapstick," he pulled some out of his pocket.

"You have chapstick?"

"The ladies love soft lips. Plus, it's not lipstick or anything."

"Oh, but you look absolutely darling in lipstick," She said, loving when Marti dressed him up.

"That's not supposed to leave the house!"

"Don't worry, your secrets safe with me. But Sandra already told the girls about it last year when you broke up with her. Said she didn't mind because she was only dating you to help you get rid of your cross dressing problems."

"She what!"

They pulled up at school and Casey quickly left his car and walked over to Sam, who was waiting for them on the sidewalk. Derek stayed in the car for a few seconds to try and comprehend what she had just told him.

"Hey, babe," Sam said casually, but distantly as he kissed her.

"Hi," Casey mumbled and stepped back into Derek.

"Watch where you're going!" Derek exclaimed, receiving a glare in return, "Give me back my chapstick. What's up Sam?"

Sam nodded, "Hey, dude."

Casey handed Derek his chapstick and waved to the both of them, "I needed to go to class, bye."

Sam nodded his head and watched Casey leave until he turned his attention to Derek, who was throwing his chapstick in the air out of boredom.

"Its weird, you know?" Sam said out of the blue.

Derek shot him a confused look, "What is?"

"Me and Casey. It's been weird lately."

"Like I didn't notice," Derek said sarcastically. He always heard Casey yelling on the other side of the wall, "You're not going to break up with her, are you? Prom's in three weeks!"

Sam shrugged, "Naw, of course not."

"Good, because I can barely handle anymore crying. Not that I care or anything."

The bell rang and they did their handshake before walking separately to class.

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So, how was it? 

Thank you to all the reviewers so far!  
( lucky-starz06, danielle72679, instarNUM1, Chicas, Ghostwriter, NotAContrivance, SethxSummer4Evah, Eva Angel )

- Lina.


	4. Suspicion & Walls

**Author's Note: **Here's the next chapter! I hope you guys find it interesting. I really just needed a fill-in so that we could get to the next chapter. Bwahaha. Be anxious for that one, alright? Alright.

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Life with Derek_

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Casey sat in her AP Government class, anxiously waiting for the lunch bell to ring. She had to tell Emily about her last fight with Sam. It was hard keeping track of Emily these days since they both had so much on their hands. Casey sighed, tapping her pencil impatiently on her notebook as she thought about what had happened last night. She hated that Sam acted so defensive and distant at the same time. His inconsistency always threw her off so that she never knew how to react. It wasn't like how she always knew to never let her guard down with Derek. She had so much practice hurling insults at Derek, you'd think she would know not to give up so easily.

Once the bell rang, she put her notebook and pencil in her backpack. Casey walked towards her locker, looking around for Emily. Once she spotted her friend, she waved her down with an anxious expression set on her face.

"Sam and I got into another fight," Casey mumbled, staring at an annoying pink blob of gum on the floor.

"I know. I mean…what?" Emily said, keeping her focus on fixing her locker.

"What do you mean you know?"

"Oh, you know … I overheard Sam tell Derek, that's all."

"Oh. Yeah, well, it sucks."

"Way to go, Captain Obvious."

"Thanks. Are you busy on Friday? I need to get my dress for prom."

"Prom? Oh no, I've got … I've got a dentist appointment. Horrible, isn't it?"

Casey nodded, "Very. Let's get something to eat."

The girls walked by Sam and Derek who subconsciously watched them like the guys they were.

"Emily told me that Casey's scared about our relationship," Sam said out of the blue.

Derek idly wondered why Sam was talking to Emily in the first place and decided that he was bored of him talking about his relationship with Casey, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, dude. It's like Case doesn't have any faith or something."

"Right. Faith. Mhmm," Derek muttered, nodding his head robotically.

It wasn't that Derek didn't want to talk about Casey because he never used to mind bringing up priceless moments between them. However, the idea of Casey and Sam being together always made him feel uneasy and he could never explain why. It didn't help that they've been together for almost two years and Derek still couldn't get rid of this sense of, dare he admit it, jealousy. Although the bachelor's life was all fine and dandy, Derek always got the notion that having a full-time girlfriend for longer than a month wouldn't be as bad as he usually made it out to be. Oh what was he thinking, his life was perfect. The ladies loved him and he loved the ladies. Yet, sometimes it just didn't seem to be enough.

---

After school, Sam waited by Casey's locker so that he could dutifully walk her to Derek's car. Having his best friend drive his girlfriend home everyday was always a bit nerve wracking for him, but knowing that they hated each others guts helped a bit. He knew that Derek wouldn't just pull over and have a make-out session with Casey like any other girl because well, she was Casey and he was Derek. Once Sam was wrapped up in his thoughts, Emily walked to her locker, which was still next to Casey's.

"Hey Sam," Emily said, opening her locker quietly.

Sam shook his head quickly to get himself out of his mind and smiled at Emily, "Hey."

"Waiting for Casey?"

"Yeah. Have you seen her?"

Emily laughed, "Of course I have. She's on her way, don't worry."

"I'm not," Sam said, smiling.

Casey walked over to Sam and Emily, "Hey, you two!"

Sam wrapped Casey into a big hug, "Hi, Case!"

"Look, I have to go. My mom's waiting for me. I'll see you guys later," Emily said, waving to them both before walking down the hallway.

Casey smiled at Sam and began walking towards the parking lot, "What color do you want to wear to wear to Prom?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, giving her a questioning expression.

"You know, you pick a tie color and I pick a dress. Or vice versa, of course."

"Oh. How about olive green?"

Casey scrunched up her nose, "Olive green? Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Why, what's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Derek had been sitting in his car lazily with his music playing loud enough to hear from the sidewalk. He had his leather jacket tossed over the passenger seat and had the air conditioner on high. It was either too hot or Derek was subconsciously bragging about his good looks through body language. He came back to reality when he saw Casey and Sam walk out of the school building. They were apparently talking about something that Casey was unsure about because she was giving Sam her 'I don't know about this'-face. Not that Derek knew her expressions or anything. Or that he'd admit to it.

At the end of their conversation, Sam kissed Casey in a fashion more explicit than a peck on the cheek. It seemed like he was trying a bit too hard and it almost made Derek laugh out loud. Except for the part where the kiss lasted too long. No, _that_ had made him irritated. He honked the horn of his car and gave a pleased smirk as Casey walked to his car. That's right, Derek Venturi's car.

"God, you and Sammy take forever to say goodbye," Derek said when Casey sat down in the passenger seat.

"You're just jealous because you haven't had any action lately," Casey scoffed.

"You say it as if you're experienced," Derek smirked again as he began to drive.

"Who's the one here who has kept a love interest longer than a month?"

"Who's the one here who has had many 'diverse' experiences?"

Casey crossed her arms across her chest, "You're such a …"

"Such a what?"

"Such a guy!" She exclaimed, resulting in Derek laughing.

"So what does that make Sammy?"

"Why do you have to call him that?"

"Why do you have to date him?"

"What? That made no sense."

Casey had a point. Since she made a point, Derek stayed quiet, her usual way of telling when she had won. In fact, the whole ride home was quiet except for Derek's usual yells or mutters. He had serious road rage when he drove and Casey wasn't sure if she was amused by it or annoyed.

When they got home, Derek was already in a bad mood and went straight to his room. He wasn't even completely sure why he was mad. It could have been the fact that Casey caught him not making sense again, proving that he wasn't as flawless as he wanted to be. It could have been the fact that Casey was snickering while he insulted the driver that cut him off. It could have been the fact that Casey and Sam had wasted his precious time because they were saying goodbye while he was wasting gas. He wouldn't admit that it could have been that Casey and Sam were being a couple in front of him again … Or being a couple period. But it didn't matter because each of these options involved Casey.

Frustrated, Derek turned on his CD player and played his music on the highest volume so that he could drown in it. Music was his way of expressing his anger without having to physically hurt anyone. Well, music and punching the wall. He had already had five holes he attempted to cover with more posters. Sighing, he pulled down a poster in order for him to cover it after creating the whole he was intent on making. At least his mind functioned somewhat properly when he was mad. Derek stared at the wall and punched twice in which both hits were hard enough to create the whole he wanted.

"Damn it, Casey," Derek muttered under his breath and rubbed his messed up knuckles.

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Well? I hope it'll satisfy you until the next chapter (which I will hopefully get up tomorrow night). 

Thank you to those who reviewed!  
(Chicas, Ghostwriter, mellowgold, lucky-starz06, SuperSixOne, NOWAY12)  
Your reviews are much appreciated.

- Lina.


	5. Closets & Phone Calls

I told you that I'd try and get this chapter up ASAP. I'm still working on where this story is headed, but I've got the gist of it. Now here's the next chapter!

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Life with Derek._

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When Friday afternoon came around, Derek drove Casey and himself home like any normal day. The car ride was quite typical in itself, to be honest. They exchanged insults, Derek expressed his anger through his horrible road rage and Casey made snide comments, bringing them back to square one. Once they finally got home, Casey went straight to Lizzie's room. 

"Lizzie, it's me," Casey said as she knocked on the door.

"Come in," Lizzie shouted from her bed.

Casey walked in and smiled at her sister, "Are you busy?"

"Does it look like I am?"

Casey laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "Not really. I was just wondering if you wanted to go shopping with me. I need to buy my prom dress."

Lizzie thought for a few seconds and nodded her head, "Sure. Where are we going though?"

"The mall downtown…No one ever goes there so there's less of a chance of someone getting the same dress!"

"Clever. What time do you want to leave?"

"How about in half an hour?"

Lizzie nodded her head again, "Sounds good to me."

"Alright. Thanks, Lizzie!"

Casey went to her own room so that she could get ready for the mall. She was too lazy to change out of her jeans and decided to just wear a different shirt instead. Humming a random tune, she opened her closet, chose a shirt and began to change. Then fate stepped in…Or rather, Derek.

"Case, you left your--" Derek walked into her room, holding out her backpack before realizing that he had just walked in on his stepsister changing.

"DEREK!" Casey screamed, jumping into her closet because it was the first idea that popped into her head during this moment of crisis.

Derek stood there, frozen where he was as the current scene registered in his head. It wasn't like it was his first time seeing Casey in a bra because the family had gone swimming over the summer and she usually wore a bikini top. But then again, she was in the water 99 percent of the time, so he only saw it the ten seconds before she got in and the twenty seconds on her way out. Derek still had her backpack in his hands and he shook his head quickly back into reality.

"Backpack. You left it in my car," Derek said, walking towards the closet.

"DEREK VENTURI, DON'T YOU DARE TAKE ANOTHER STEP!" Casey yelled from behind the clothes in her closet, hiding from him very well.

He laughed and threw her bag on the ground, sitting himself on her bed, "Jeez, I'm not going to attack you or anything."

"Leave!" She said loudly in a high-pitched voice.

"I can't even see you, though!" Derek exclaimed with a laugh, finding it amusing that she was standing behind her clothes in her own closet.

Casey groaned and put her shirt on quickly before coming out with her hands placed on her hips, "What in the world is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, of course."

"You idiot!" She hit his arm and crossed her arms across her chest.

Derek rubbed his arm, "Ow! Abuse, I say."

"Do you not know what the word '_leave_' means?"

"I don't know, _do I_?"

Casey hit him again, although this time on the side of his head, "Don't play smart with me!"

"I'm not! What are you getting ready for?"

"Lizzie and I are going shopping for my dress," She said, going back to her closet to get her other jacket.

"Really now? Why not Emily or Sammy?" Derek asked, bouncing up and down on her bed.

"Dentist appointment and busy," Casey walked towards the door and opened it, "It's time for you to leave now."

Derek walked out and let out an exaggerated sigh, "Fine, woman. Why are you so bossy?"

Casey rolled her eyes and closed the door on him.

---

Lizzie and Casey now stood on the second floor of the mall downtown, looking over the railing as they ate their pretzels. Even their plain pretzels were rather enjoyable after an hour and a half of searching for and trying on dresses. They eventually stuck with a black dress with olive green straps, an olive green trim around the middle, and the same green bow in the back. It was simple yet classy, just the look the Casey was shooting for.

Scanning the first floor, Lizzie pointed to a guy sitting in front of McDonalds, "Hey, isn't that Sam?"

Casey shot her sister a confused expression and looked to where she was pointing, "Yeah…Yeah, that's him."

"But I thought you said no one goes here."

"I didn't mean it literally. But that's odd … He said he was busy today."

Casey pulled out her cell phone, the same one that Derek bought her two years ago, and dialed Sam's number. From the top level, she saw her boyfriend take his phone out, look at the screen, and place it back in his pocket. Casey looked at him with an expression of anger, confusion, and sadness. But, mainly on the angry side.

"Did you see that?" Casey practically screamed.

Lizzie gulped, "Yeah, I did. Casey, don't overreact. It's probably not that big of a deal."

"That…that…"

Before she could find the right insult, Casey saw another figure wearing black hoodie walk over to Sam.

A girl. Sure, Casey couldn't see the face, but no guy had curves like the figure in the hoodie did.

Sam looked around before smiling at the girl and kissed her lightly on the lips. Casey could only stare at him in disbelief, hoping that what was happening wasn't really happening. Hopefully it was only her imagination. Lizzie, on the other hand, kept glancing nervously between her sister and the two people on the floor below them.

"Case, let's go. Casey…Let's go," Lizzie pleaded, not wanting her sister to do anything dumb.

Casey was clutching her pretzel so hard that it had turned into mush. She didn't want to believe that Sam was down there with some other girl. She didn't want to believe that Sam was down there KISSING some other girl. Sam. _Her_ Sam. The Sam that never did anything horrible. Casey was convinced that he was a good person that was brought up with good morals because of his family of women. He wasn't a cheating, lying, ungrateful…Oh, but he was and Casey hated him for it. She stood up, grabbed her bags and began walking towards the parking lot. Lizzie was practically running to keep up with her pace.

"Casey?" Lizzie tugged on her sister's sleeve.

"I just want to get home."

Casey drove home, quickly but safely, not wanting to cry in front of her little sister for the millionth time. She had to show that she was strong, too. Once they got home, Casey ran to her room and grabbed her dog-stuffed animal by habit. She continued to repeat in her mind that it was just her imagination. Casey grabbed her phone and called up Emily, hoping her dentist appointment was over.

"Hello?" answered Emily, apparently in some crowded and loud area.

Casey sighed distinctly, "You're done at the dentist, right?"

"Uh…Dentist? Yeah, why?"

Before Casey could respond, she heard a familiar voice in the background asking, "I hope Coke is fine with you because I got Mountain Dew," followed by a familiar laugh.

Sam's laugh.

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Cue Music: "Dun, dun, duuuuuun."  
How'd you like that for a twist, eh?  
Haha. Anyway, I'd still like to thank  
these reviewers. It's nice knowing  
that you have readers who keep up  
with the story. So thanks to **Chicas,  
Ghostwriter, SethxSummer4Evah,  
**and **lucky-starz06**. I'm not kidding  
when I say that your reviews are much  
appreciated. Take care! 

- Lina.

_Another Disclaimer: If the cell phone part reminded you of something, its from The Eye 2. A movie that I did not like for I'm not one for horror films. But yes, the cell phone bit was from that movie._


	6. Blood & Side Hugs

Yay for the next chapter. It's not as long as I originally planned, but hopefully it'll satisfy you all. Time for some comfortime time, eh? ;)

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Life with Derek and I never will._

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Casey sat there in shock, not moving or responding to Emily on the phone as her mind tried to register what she had just heard.

"Casey?" Emily asked, still wondering if her best friend was still on there.

Casey shook her head quickly and asked angrily, "What are you doing at McDonalds with Sam?"

"How'd you know that? You weren't--"

"I saw you! Emily, I saw you kiss him! How could you?"

"Look, Casey--"

"What, did you just happen to _forget _that he's _my_ boyfriend?"

"I can explain--"

"No, Em. I don't think you can."

Casey hung up, not wanting to hear the excuse she figured Emily would make up. She couldn't take their lies any longer. Emily and Sam. Why couldn't she see it before? Sam had become so distant the past few months and Emily had suddenly been busy 24/7. Was it that she didn't _want_ to notice? If Emily had feelings for Sam before Casey dated him, why did her best friend encourage her? Does this mean that Sam and Emily developed feelings for each other during Casey's relationship with him? When did Sam stop loving her completely?

Casey continued to sit on her bed, motionless and in shock. Her mind was running a million miles per hour as she wondered what to do with all of these emotions. She felt too confused to only hug the stuffed animal, hoping that this would all go away because she knew that it wouldn't. This problem would not disappear overnight. She sat there for a few more minutes before an idea came to her mind.

She had always heard Derek punch his wall whenever he was angry. It always amazed her that he managed to create holes in it every single time. Amazed in an odd, twisted way, of course. Casey stood up and locked her door, staring at an empty spot in her wall. She tilted her head and kept focused on it for a long thirty seconds. The concept of punching your wall until you felt better seemed simple enough and Casey shook her shoulders a bit before making a fist, ready to attack it.

Casey punched it once, wincing slightly after she had done so. Seeing that it made no evident mark, she punched it again with more force. Her eyes welled up with tears as she bashed the innocent wall with anger and more violent thoughts ran through her mind with each hit. It had gotten to the point where she had continued hitting the wall until her knuckles tore up and bled, but the wall had only made a slight indent.

Derek, on the other hand, was lying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling as he continued to attempt to get the sight of Casey changing in her room out of his mind. His thoughts were interrupted by thumping noises from Casey's side of the wall. At first, Derek let the racket continue until it got a bit annoying. He sat up in confusion and listened to the punches and slight noises of frustration. It was impossible for him to figure out what in the world she was doing. Out of pure curiosity, Derek got up, walked over to her door and tried opening it. It was locked. He walked over to the game closet where the family kept the spare key in an extra game of Boggle hidden under a towel. He never understood the idea of everyone getting the same doorknobs and having the same lock and key because then anyone could get into everyone else's rooms. Once Derek got the key, he unlocked Casey's door and walked in.

Casey punched the wall once more, completely out of energy. She continued to cry until the noise of her very own door caught her attention. She turned around quickly, staring at Derek who was just standing there, trying to absorb the whole situation.

"Casey?" He asked, staring at her with wide eyes.

She stayed silent, shaking her head and wiping her eyes despite the fact that the tears kept falling.

Derek walked slowly over, "Casey, what did you do to your hands? They're bleeding."

Casey sat on her bed and covered her face, not wanting him to see her at her weakest point, "Derek, its my fault. I drove him away … And … And …"

He sat next to her, "Drove _who_ away?"

"Him. Sam," she said, scooting a bit farther from Derek out of instinct, but took her hands down.

"What are you talking about?"

"Sam…and Emily…They…They…" her eyes welled up with even more tears.

"They what? Case, they _what_?"

"Derek, he cheated on me. _He _cheated on me with _her_."

Derek kept his focus on Casey's splotchy face and puffy eyes as his own expression turned from confusion to anger. He shook his head, not completely understanding her statement. Had Casey just said that Sam, his best friend, cheated on her? With her own best friend? Sure, Derek had always told Sam to live a little, but he never meant for him to actually cheat on Casey. And sure, he never liked the fact that Sam and Casey were dating, but he never meant for Sam to actually break her heart like he had obviously done already.

"Don't cry, Case," Derek said for he had no other words to say to her.

"Don't cry? Don't _cry_! Did you just hear what I told you? Your jerk of a best friend--"

"Yeah, he got it on with your best friend. I heard you the first time," he said in a slightly annoyed tone since he was trying to be nice and received an attitude in return.

Casey considered shooting him a glare, but seeing that she was not in the mood to fight with him, she sighed instead, "What am I going to do?"

There was a long pause while Derek thought about a response. Of course, Casey had asked it in a rhetorical fashion, but he also wondered what she would do.

"Revenge," he said simply.

Casey wiped her eyes, "Revenge? But that sounds so harsh. I mean, there's always the whole 'turning your cheek' thing."

"How can you possibly say that? You _did _turn your cheek after he cheated on you and he struck the other one when it turned out to be Emily. You're fresh out of options."

Casey sat there in silence.

Derek sighed and broke the quietness, "Although the ideal revenge would be cheating back with his best--"

"Derek, that's you," Casey pointed out, folding her arms across her chest.

"Let me finish! Since we already established that his best friend is me, we _obviously_ can't do that. So you do it differently."

"And how do I do that?"

"We make him want you back so badly that he'll be on his knees begging, but he won't get the privilege of touching a single hair of you. **I'll **make sure of that."

Derek scooted closer to her, pulling her into an attempt at a side-hug that was awkward, but turned very un-awkward after Casey leaned into him a bit. In fact, he felt almost like she was meant to fit perfectly against him. Derek patted her arm, trying to make himself look as if the moment was still very awkward for him and yet he couldn't explain why he was having these thoughts in the first place.

* * *

Well? What'd you think? It got a tad bit more fluffier than I intended, but its all gravy. I'm not sure if I'll get around to posting another chapter until after Christmas, seeing as tomorrow is already Christmas Eve. So if I do not post another chapter, Merry Christmas & God bless.

- Lina.


	7. Slavery & Dresses

Hello, hello, hello! Sorry the update took a while, I was too busy to write up the next chapter as well as finding the perfect song to write a song fic. Eh, but that's still in the process of being written in my head first. x Anyway, this next chapter is longer than the others, but I hope you'll enjoy it.

_Disclaimer: We all know that I do not own any of these characters from Life with Derek.

* * *

_  
When Casey woke up Saturday morning, she was in a very grumpy mood. Her right hand hurt to the extreme and her eyes were still puffy from crying the previous day. Even though Derek said he had a solution the whole situation, she couldn't help but cry herself to sleep. It was too overwhelming for her to handle and usually sleeping made it go away.

Unfortunately, Casey was still in a very bad mood.

Casey walked over sleepily to the bathroom and stood in front of the door. When she attempted to open it, it was locked. She groaned and knocked on the door loudly and violently.

"Someone's in here!" yelled Lizzie, her voice muffled by the noise of the shower.

Casey groaned again and sat on the floor next to the door, pulling her knees up to her chest. She was annoyed that she had overslept again because Casey was usually one of the first people awake. She figured that it had to be the whole situation that was putting her in such a horrible mood.

"Psst! Case!" hissed Derek, poking his head out of his door.

Casey looked at him and replied in a loud voice, "What?"

"Thanks for killing my attempt at being quiet."

"No problem. What do you want?"

Derek motioned for her to come over, "Come here."

She rolled her eyes and got herself up, walking slowly to his room with her arms crossed across her chest. It gave off the impression that him making her walk to his room was very aggravating and a burden.

"And _why_ am I here again?" Casey asked him, placing her hands on her hips.

Derek sat his computer and put his hands behind his head, "You're here because I told you to."

"I'm leaving," she said simply, not wanting to be someone's slave and began walking out of the door.

"I was kidding! Learn how to take a joke, Case."

Casey turned around and walked to where his seat was, still looking very annoyed, "Okay, then what's the real reason why I'm here?"

"We're starting today."

"What?"

"On the plan," Derek said, moving his hand as if trying to help her remember.

"No, I know that. But you said 'we'."

Derek laughed, "You think you can do this on your own?"

"Well, I didn't--"

"Exactly. I'll let you do 90 percent of it and I'll be here for tips and light criticism."

"You? Light criticism? Don't make me laugh," she said and rolled her eyes.  
"Casey, look. You need me and don't even deny it."

She let out an exaggerated sigh, "Fine, whatever."

"You want to get this done right? You've got two weeks to get him wanting you back and two weeks to find a new prom date."

"_Fine_," Casey repeated stubbornly.

Derek smirked, "Good. I give you permission to go get ready now."

"DEREK!"

"It's a joke!"

---

About an hour later, Casey sat on the couch in a better mood after a nice hot shower and a bit of chocolate despite the fact that her hand was bugging her to death. Derek had told her that they were going somewhere, but he wouldn't tell her where. So she sat there, flipping through the channel, feeling very unproductive and annoyed.

"Derek!" she yelled, wondering where the heck her stepbrother was.

Nora walked into the living room, "Did he put something on the couch again? Are you hurt?"

Casey stared at her mom with a confused expression, "Uh, no, mom. I was just waiting for him to get his butt downstairs."

"You guys are going somewhere?" Nora inquired, looking as if she wanted the details.

"Sort of."

Derek walked downstairs, grabbing his jacket and opening the front door, "Case, let's jet. Bye, Nora."

Casey stood up, put on her jacket and kissed her mom on the cheek, "Bye, mom."

"Drive safely!" Nora shouted after Casey closed the front door.

It was an odd sight for Nora to see Casey and Derek leaving the house in a civilized manner. Nice, but odd.

---

Derek was, of course, driving safely. Alright, so his driving was a bit too fast for Casey's liking, but at least he never put them in a situation where the outcome was a car accident.

Once he stopped at a stoplight, Derek turned to Casey and said, "Okay, Case. There's not that much that we would improve, but since we want him begging on his knees, or better yet all fours, there's a couple stuff that we'll work on."

Casey looked at him, not exactly sure if she should take that as a compliment or not, "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Style, attitude, body language, verbal language, whatever language," Derek listed, a smirk coming across his face.

"You want me to be a slut?" Casey assumed in shock.

"No, no, no. If we wanted that, we'd take out your Babe Raider costume."

Casey punched his arm with her hand that had band-aids on her knuckles and winced after she did so.

"Your hand still hurts?" he asked, nodding towards her fist.

"No, not really," she lied, staring out her window as he continued driving.

Derek smirked and laughed again, "Case, I know that everyone wants to be _just like me_, but next time don't try too hard because I'm one of a kind, baby," he said and popped the collar of his jacket.

"Don't flatter yourself," Casey said with a roll of her eyes, "Where are we going?"

He nodded his head, "Somewhere and we're almost there."

Soon afterwards, Derek made a right turn which gave Casey the perfect view of the mall downtown. Casey groaned and shook her head, not knowing why in the world Derek chose this mall of all places. She figured it was because "no one went to this mall" and therefore, no one would see them shopping. She wasn't even exactly sure if she was supposed to tell him that this was the mall she saw Sam and Emily at.

"You're kidding me, right? We aren't going into _that_ mall, are we?" Casey said, staring at him.

Derek glanced at her and drove into the parking lot, "It sure does look like we are, doesn't it?"

"Derek! This is the mall where I saw them."

He continued to drive up and down the aisles for parking and thought for a few seconds, "Well, then this is the perfect place where we'll cook up our revenge."

"You mean, 'your'."

"Your revenge. Didn't I say that?"

"No, you said 'our revenge'," Casey retorted, giving him a weird look.

Derek finally parked and got out of the car, going straight to his trunk, "No, I didn't."

Derek mentally kicked himself for his continuous slips of saying 'us', 'we', and 'our' when referring to the plan for Sammy. Well, he did consider this partly his doing as well since Sam _did _date _his_ stepsister and then broke her heart. It was only common courtesy to Casey, right? Right. But when were the words 'common courtesy' and 'Casey' ever next to each other in his vocabulary? Probably never, but that was beyond Derek's point. The point was that he was just as mad at Sam as Casey was and wouldn't let Casey's little comments interfere with his perfect plan…Even if the whole plan revolved around her.

"What are you getting?" Casey asked Derek and went to the back of the car as well.

Derek pulled out her black and olive green dress, "This. We're returning it. I mean, _you're_ returning it."

"Where did you get this?"

"You left in on your chair and I got it when you were in the shower," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Casey grabbed it grudgingly forgetting that she desperately wanted to return it anyway, "You are such a jerk."

"I thought I was such a guy," Derek said and began walking towards the actual mall itself.

"You are! You're both. You're a guy who's a jerk. And a big one at that."

"A big … what? Big guy? Big jerk? What goes on in that head of yours?" Derek asked and poked her temple to annoy her.

Her reaction was good enough for him as she stomped her foot loudly and shoved him, "Don't touch me!"

---

After they returned the black and olive green dress, Derek and Casey went to six more stores to buy a new one. Unfortunately, buying dresses was a lot harder than Derek had expected and definitely more time consuming than he wanted it to be. She had tried on practically every color of the rainbow, from pastel pink to gray, dark green to brown, and even teal to orange. However, each of these dresses didn't compliment Casey the way he wanted it to. Sure, most of them looked snazzy on her, but Derek wanted her to have the perfect dress … but, you know, only because Sam needed to see her at her best on prom night.

Once they hit their last store, despite the fact that Derek said the fourth store would be their last, Casey looked around and separated from Derek. He didn't mind it all that much because it gave him the chance to sit down and breathe. Derek sat down in one of the chairs by the dressing rooms, waiting for Casey to find a couple of dresses to try on. He felt completely relaxed before he was suddenly snatched by Casey and was walking quickly to hide with her behind a rack of dresses without knowing why.

"What are we doing?" Derek asked, shooting her a weird glance before getting up to go back to his chair, "I'm going back to my chair."

Casey pulled his arm, pulling him back down with it, "No, you can't."

"And why is that?"

"Because Emily is here," she hissed, still holding his arm but her grip was slowly tightening from nervousness.

"Well, she's got some nerve to come back to this mall after what happened," Derek said with a laugh.

"Hey, I'm here, too," Casey said, slightly pouting and then gasped, moving away quickly.

"That's different," he said before realizing that Casey wasn't beside him.

Derek got up and looked around the store, not seeing her anywhere. He groaned and turned around to start looking some more but ended up right in front of Emily.

Emily stared at Derek with some odd expression and finally mustered up enough courage to say something, "Hey, Derek. Were you just talking to yourself?"

Derek fixed his jacket and stared at her, "You've got a problem with it?"

"Um, of course not. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," he smirked.

Embarrassed, Emily shook her head, "Oh, I wasn't trying to be nosy or anything."

"I'm here to find a dress for … my date to prom," he said, searching through the rack of dresses before pulling out a gorgeous dark red one.

"Who are you going with?" she asked with interest because she really should be interested. He was Derek Venturi, after all.

Derek had a smug smile across his face and replied, "Some chick from a different school. She's hot. Actually she went to middle school with Sam and me. I bet he'll be surprised to see her, don't you?"

"Oh. Um, yeah. Well, I better be off," Emily said awkwardly and left.

Once Emily was out of the store, Derek kept looking around for Casey. He was still holding out the dress he picked out for his non-existent prom date and was suddenly shoved into a rack of dresses.

"What the!" Derek yelled and stared at Casey with wide eyes, "What was that for?"

"For not telling me you had a date to prom!" She said, almost as loud, but didn't want to cause a scene.

Derek laughed hard and shook his head, "You can't honestly be serious. That was just some lie I told her. I'm going stag so I can dance with whoever I want."

"Oh whatever," Casey rolled her eyes and took the dress out of his hands, "What's this?"

"A dress. Try it on."

She gave him a 'are you kidding?' look and replied, "You've got to be joking right? It's too... And it shows … No way!"

Derek's turn to roll his eyes finally came as he pushed her over to the dressing room, "Go. You want him jealous, right?"

"Well, yeah … But--"

"Then try it on!" He pushed her one more time and sat back down in his chair.

Derek sat there, tapping his fingers together mischievously as he waited for Casey to change. Boy was she taking forever. He groaned impatiently and slouched in his chair, his mind to wrapped around his plan to notice the handful of girls staring at him and whispering. It wasn't until then that Casey opened the door slowly, side stepping out of the room so that he could see her.

The dark red dress was gorgeous on its own, but on Casey, it was absolutely stunning. The dress had black outlines and tied behind her neck in a way that showed her neck and back the most. It honestly fit every curve and complimented her figure in a way that Derek couldn't explain. Who knew a simple dress create such a reaction in someone. Even in Derek.

It was almost funny because he just sat there with his eyes running over her body in amazement while she stood there in nervousness.

"Derek?" Casey asked him, worried that it wasn't a great dress considering he was giving her a weird look.

Derek's eyes snapped back up to hers and he nodded his head slowly, "Well, it's…nice."

* * *

Hope this will keep you content until my next update. I love you all!  
- Lina. 


	8. Comparisons & Video Games

I'm so sorry about how long it took me to update. I've been so busy with everything lately. Paintballing, youth group, New Years Eve, homework, etc. But, here's the next chapter because I couldn't just not update before school starts. I hope I can still update as often with the burden of school on my shoulders. Le sigh. Anyway, here you go!

_Disclaimer: I do not and will not own any of the characters of Life with Derek._

_

* * *

_

Casey looked down at the dress she was wearing and bit her bottom lip before jumping back behind the door, her head still poking out.

"Nice?" she asked, "So I shouldn't buy it?"

Derek coughed and nodded his head, "You should buy it. Yes. Buy it."

Casey looked at him as if he were crazy and closed the door so that she could change back into her regular clothes. Derek, on the other hand, was running his hand nervously through his hair. He was trying to stay cool and figure out why he was so jittery. Was he jittery over Casey? Yeah right, like that would ever happen.

Once they bought the dress and returned back to the car, a million thoughts went through Derek's mind. Derek figured that he needed desperately to switch back into annoying stepbrother mode because he realized that he had been too nice lately and was nervous that Casey would realize it as well. The car ride home was completely silent and awkward for exactly seven minutes minutes. He had glanced at the clock many times, wanting to break the silence.

"So, your attitude…" Derek began, running his hand through his hair again.

Casey looked at him and defensively replied, "What about it?"

"Everything! Come on, you don't see it?"

"Oh, and I suppose you do?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Derek, replied smugly.

She crossed her arms over her chest by habit, "Enlighten me, then."

A smirk came across his face as he began, "All you care about are grades and your little feminist ideas which can be complete turn-offs for many guys, by the way. Guys like to feel a little powerful and those female frenzied 'beliefs' lower that sense of power. You use all these big words that aren't in any normal person's vocabulary. Plus, you talk back way too much and interfere when one is--"

"No, Derek. One, grades are important. Two, my 'female frenzied beliefs', as you called them, are _supposed_ to lower that sense of male superiority. Third, I do not use big words. And fourth, that's only what I do to you," Casey interfered with a roll of her eyes.

"Why, thank you!" he said with an exaggerated smile.

"Idiot."

"Schmuck."

Casey raised an eyebrow before responding, "Schmuck?"

"Yeah, you know…"

"No, Derek, I _don't_ know," she said in an amused tone.

He gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were turning whiter, "Well, then look it up in the dictionary, book worm."

"I am not a--"

"Yes, you are. Don't even deny it. How can one have straight A's and _not_ be a bookworm? Tell me."

She tapped her fingers impatiently on the door handle as he turned onto their street, "You are so ignorant. At least Sam was educated and respected what I believed."

As Derek parallel parked by the sidewalk, he slammed his foot on the break, causing Casey to go forward before saying through clenched teeth, "Don't _ever_ compare me to Sam."

Once they both got into the house, they each walked angrily to their own rooms. Naturally this involved bumping of shoulders on the staircase and threats to push the other over the railing and down the stairs. With the slamming of the doors, each of them turned on their music and lay down on their bed. Of course, they heard the annoying sound of the other's choice of music from the other side of the wall, forcing them to get off their bed, go out of their room. Now, it's a given that they collided with each other in a split second and also a given that it increased their anger even further.

"Watch where the hell you're going!" Derek yelled.

"_You_ watch where _you're_ going!" Casey screamed back.

"I don't need to because _you're_ the one who's going to."

"I think not!"

"Whatever. Turn your dumb music down."

Casey put her hands on her hips, "No, I think that you should turn _your_ music down."

Derek glared at her and grabbed her arm, pulling her two inches away from him. They stayed in that position for a long five seconds before he let go and walked back into his room, leaving Casey angrier and well, completely confused. He needed to leave that hallway and it was a fact. If he didn't leave, he was scared that he might do something he'd regret and for some reason, this something wasn't that he would hurt her. It was something else that he needed to get out of his mind pronto. Something that involved physical contact other than him holding her arm and he wanted those thoughts of this something gone. Solution? Another hole in the wall. He figured that maybe this helping-out-Casey-to-get-revenge-on-Sam idea wasn't such a good idea after all.

Casey sat on her bed, staring at her dress that she hung on the door in a pure mix of anger and confusion. She hated her stepbrother and hated the fights that they had. They were always over complete nothings, but never ceased to be loud and intense. But for some reason, when he had pulled her close to him, there was this different look in his eyes. No, she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. But she knew for a fact that it was not just anger. It was something else that went along with it. If Casey hadn't known Derek at all, she would've claimed that she saw desire in his eyes. But fortunately for the both of them, she discarded that idea since she figured that she _did_ know him pretty well.

After a couple of hours went by, Casey had fallen asleep and Derek had gone downstairs to beat Edwin in some new video game he bought. The doorbell rang and Derek yelled to notify everyone that he would answer it as he walked to the door and opened it. He was surprised to see that it was Sam.

"'Sup dude," Sam said casually, walking into the house as if he owned the place.

Derek closed the door and walked to the kitchen, "You've got some nerve to show up here."

Sam nodded his head, opening the fridge to pull out a can of soda, "Yeah, about that…"

"About what? How you cheated on Case with her _best friend_? That was low."

"Uh, yeah. Sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be sorry to," Derek stated, sitting on top of the counter.

"Right, right. Is Casey here?"

"Somewhere in this house, yeah."

Sam looked at him and nodded slowly, "So are you going to tell me where she's at?"

Derek shrugged, "Maybe when I feel like it."

Just then, Casey walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. Apparently, she had just gotten up from her nap and was still a bit groggy. When she saw Sam and Derek, she groaned loudly.

"When will this nightmare ever end?" she asked and threw up her arms, walking back out of the kitchen.

"Casey, wait up," Sam said and jogged over to where she was.

"Do I look like I want to talk to you right now?"

"No, not really."

"Thank you. Goodbye," Casey said in monotone and practically dragged herself back up the staircase.

Sam looked stumped and walked back to the kitchen only to find Derek smirking.

"What are you smirking about?" he asked Derek, taking another sip of his soda.

"You honestly couldn't see that coming?"

"Well…"

"Wow, you're not as smart as I thought you were," he said, his smirk never leaving his face until he tried hitting a more serious note, "So why were you cheating on her anyway?"

Sam thought for a few seconds as if he were trying to find the right words, "I wouldn't exactly call it cheating."

"Then what would you call it?"

"Finding the right soul mate?"

"So you're saying that both Case and Emily are your soul mates, but Emily is the _right_ one?"

"She helped me out with a couple of things and I couldn't just not give her a chance."

"Dude. You were dating my stepsister. You know this gives me the right to beat you up or something?"

"I thought you'd be happy I wasn't dating Casey anymore! You told me to live a little, remember?"

"I didn't mean for you to cheat on my Ca-- stepsister!"

"Then forget I ever dated her. That way its like nothing happened."

"You really think I'm going to just forget about a two year relationship between my stepsister and best friend? Why don't you come back later, dude. I've got to beat Edwin in his new video game. Promised the kid I'd play with him," Derek said, showing Sam the way out of the house.

When Derek sat back down, Edwin was just sitting there, staring at the TV screen that had the word 'pause' displayed with a concerned look. This caused Derek to give Edwin an odd expression as well.

"Yo, Edwin. What's wrong with you?" Derek asked and pushed his brother's head.

Edwin rubbed his head and looked at Derek with the same concerned expression he was giving the TV, "Sam cheated on Casey?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah. Just don't tell anyone, alright?"

"Alright. Lets get back to this game, you took forever with Sam," Edwin said, pressing the start button on his control.

Little did Derek know, after they were done finishing the video game, Edwin had slipped a note into Lizzie's room telling her to meet him in the game closet that night at 10:30 PM.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you to all the reviewers who reviewed because I love you guys. Hope you all have a Happy New Year:D 

- Lina.


	9. Monopoly & Reasons

Hello! The lack of LWD updates has been understandingly frustrating. However, look! Here's an update! Haha. Hope its alright for you Dasey people. There's some Edwin/Lizzie action as well. Assuming that currently Edwin is 10 and Lizzie is 9, that would mean that in this fanfiction, Edwin is 12 and Lizzie is 11. Yep! Well, enjoy the new chapter. :)

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the LWD characters whatsoever._

* * *

Lizzie walked into her room, spotting a note halfway underneath her pillow. Out of curiosity, she pulled it out. The corners of her mouth twitched into a smile as she realized it was Edwin's chicken scratch.

_Lizzie,_

_I need to talk to you.  
GC 22:30.  
Can't wait until then. _

_- Edwin_

After giggling to herself after reading his note, Lizzie placed it in her small box of notes. She wondered how important this meeting was since they hadn't had to meet in the game closet in nearly a month and a half. It wasn't hard to figure out that it had something to do with their older siblings, but it bothered her that she didn't know exactly what it was that Edwin needed to talk about since she usually knew the gist of it before their meetings. Sighing, Lizzie went downstairs to watch a movie with Marti since there was just enough time until 10:30PM and she knew Marti would fall asleep anyway.

---

After the movie, Lizzie picked up her younger stepsister and brought her up the stairs slowly to Marti's room. It took her longer than she expected, considering that Marti was a growing little girl. Once she tucked her into bed, Lizzie walked over to the game closet, looking around before stepping inside.

"What the!" Edwin said and knocked over a game of Chutes and Ladders, obviously surprised by the sudden opening of the door. Once he realized it was Lizzie, he shook his head and mumbled as he picked up the game, "Sorry."

"It's fine," Lizzie giggled and closed the door, turning on the light above their heads, "It seems a lot more crowded in here, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, you're right," Edwin said and now noticed how close they were to each other, making him completely nervous.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?"

Edwin rubbed his hands together before replying, "You heard about Sam, right?"

"I was there when Casey found out. He's such a jerk!"

"I know. I found out today because he came over to talk with her or something."

"And she actually talked to him?" Lizzie asked in surprise.

Edwin laughed, "Pfft, no. But she looked awfully upset. I was thinking … should we do something?"

"I think we should."

Edwin nodded his head in agreement, "But what could we do?"

Lizzie shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure. I was trying to think of something earlier, but for once, no mischievous plan came to my mind."

"That's a shame," Edwin said with a laugh, "because I can't think of anything either. Except, maybe getting someone involved who actually goes to their school."

Right after Edwin spoke, they heard Derek's voice in the hallway, standing in front of Casey's door.

"Casey, will you let me in?" they heard him ask.

Unsurprisingly, they heard her response follow, "No."

"Please?" they heard him plead.

Again, her response was not far from the expected, "No!"

"Are you crying?" they heard him ask demandingly.

There was no reply from Casey to his question. The next sound they heard was a groan followed by footsteps that got louder with each step. It wasn't until the footsteps stopped at the game closet and the door swung open that they remembered that the spare key was in the Boggle game.

Derek stood there, partly in shock and partly not caring, "What are you two doing here?"

Edwin shot a look at Lizzie and then looked back at his brother and replied, "Looking for a game!"

Lizzie laughed and nodded her head, "Yeah, we were going to play…Monopoly."

"Whatever. Pass me the Boggle game under the towel," Derek said with a roll of his eyes, not believing them for a second.

"Why?" Lizzie asked, already knowing the answer, "What are you going to do to Casey?"

This was a cue for another eye roll as Derek reached over her head for the Boggle game himself and responded smoothly, "None of your business."

"Actually, technically it _is_ her business because Casey's her sister," Edwin said quickly, not realizing that he had talked back to Derek until he finished his sentence.

"What'd you say?" Derek said, stepping closer to his little brother as if he were challenging the kid.

Edwin gulped and continued, "I was just saying that, you know, Lizzie has the right to know because--"

"Edwin, get out of here. I told you not to talk to anyone about it," Derek said, putting the Boggle game back on the shelf after he got the key.

Edwin shook his head, "But, I--"

"I was there when it happened, though," Lizzie said, pleading for her own justification and to save Edwin from saying something he'd regret in the future.

It was Derek's turn to shake his head as he responded, "Yes, but we've got it under control so there's no need for one your guys' secret plans this time."

With that, Derek left the game closet to Lizzie and Edwin. Lizzie stared at her feet, feeling slightly embarrassed because she had never had anything close to a fight with Derek. Edwin on the other hand, was ready to head out since that was what Derek told him to do. His mind was wrapped around the fact that Derek had said '_we've_ got it under control.' We've. Not she's, not I've. We've.

"Edwin, that was brave of you," Lizzie admitted with a smile as Edwin was about to open the closet door.

"To do what?" he turned around and asked in confusion.

"Standing up to Derek for me," Lizzie said and turned off the light above them at the second she kissed Edwin on the cheek.

Edwin smiled and kissed her back lightly on the lips before whispering, "Goodnight."

Edwin left the game closet and walked over to his room with a big smile on his face. He felt as if he was braver today than he had ever been his whole lifetime. However, his mind never went back to his initial thought of what Derek said earlier that night.

Derek, on the other hand, had gotten into Casey's room a few minutes before Edwin had left the game closet. Casey was sitting on her bed in her pajamas with her back to the headboard, her stuffed animal dog on her lap and a book in her hands.

"Get out of my room, you jerk!" Casey exclaimed, throwing a pillow at him as he walked in.

Derek threw it back at her head and responded, "What if I don't want to? Huh? What're _you_ going to do about it?"

"This is _my_ room, so I am the authoritative figure within the area of these confined walls."

"See? Big. Words. They need to stop starting now."

Casey rolled her eyes, "Just because _you're_ ignorant doesn't mean that I need to change my vocabulary."

"I'm not ignorant and I'm not the only guy who can't stand big words!"

"Whatever. What do you want?"

Derek laughed and sat himself on the opposite side of the bed, "That way."

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, laughing at his own joke over the boy band formerly known as Backstreet Boys.

Casey shot him a suspicious look, "No really. What do you want from me?"

"Uh, what?" Derek asked, looking at her as if she were a freak.

"Stop looking at me like that. We hate each other and out of the blue you start acting all nice," she said, staring at the plush dog on her lap.

"Nice? You call revenge 'nice'?" he asked in amusement, pleased with himself that he completely dodged her question.

"When it's on your cheating boyfriend, yes, I do call it 'nice'. But when its your best friend, like in your case, its abnormal!"

"What a freak," Derek joked, putting up his hands, "I'm only joking."

"You better be...or else."

"Or else what?" he challenged her, smirking while he did so.

"There will be consequences," she responded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"For calling you a freak?"

"Yes, for calling me a freak."

Derek laughed and shook his head, "What are these consequences then?"

"Bad."

"You don't have consequences, do you?"

Casey only responded with a shrug while Derek laughed and left the room before she could ask him again why he was helping her. To be honest, he wasn't even sure himself. He had used the justification that she was his stepsister and her boyfriend cheated on her, therefore giving him the right to seek revenge on that stupid ex-boyfriend of hers despite the fact that the 'stupid ex-boyfriend' was his best friend. However, it wasn't helping at all that he realized how nice it was to hang out with her just simply driving around downtown or walking around the mall. It also didn't help when he realized that he might have been attracted to her physically and emotionally. Scratch that 'emotionally' part. Derek Venturi did not get emotionally invested into any relationships whatsoever and that rule did not bend for anybody. However, Derek couldn't help himself but walk back to Casey's door and stick his head in.

"Hey, Case?" Derek asked, fully stepping inside.

Casey looked up from her book, "What?"

"I'm being nice to you because…Wait, can you not look at me?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

It was Casey's turn to look at him as if he were a freak and nodded her head, staring at the text on her book.

"I'm being nice to you because…" Derek started slowly again and this time continued, "No one deserves to be treated like that. Especially someone like you."

Casey's eyes darted from the page to Derek's own eyes, not able to respond to what he said.

"G'night," Derek said and dashed off to his own room before she could respond.

'_Derek, what's going on with you, dude?' _He thought to himself as he turned off the light and attempted to go to sleep as quickly as possible so he could forget that he had just said what he said

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So, how'd you like it? Don't forget to review?   
Without reviews its nearly impossible to be motivated to write.  
Until the next update, take care!

- Lina.


	10. Venting & Roadkill

WHOOAAA. Dudes & dudettes, I apologize immensely for my lack of updates. School just got way too overwhelming and I've also been deprived of inspiration. However, here's another chapter for those who actually enjoy this fanfiction. It makes me feel better knowing that people still like it. x So here you go.

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Life with Derek characters.

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_  
Monday morning, Casey sat herself down in the passenger seat of Derek's car with a loud sigh. She was not in the mood for school for it was inevitable that her path would collide with Sam's, Emily's or both. I mean, their lockers were right next to each other for crying out loud. Plus, as best friends… Wait, scratch that. As _ex_-best friends, Emily and Casey had quite a few classes together. Casey wasn't exactly sure how she would react to Emily and was almost scared to think about it.

Just then, Derek sat down in the driver's seat, looking groggy and exhausted as he started the car.

"What's wrong with you?" Casey asked as she fastened her seatbelt.

Derek didn't look at her, but combed a hand in his hair in attempt at making him look better, "I don't do Mondays."

"Obviously."

Derek shook his head, "I don't know what keeps you up so perky for school. Seriously."

"Want me to drive?" Casey offered.

He looked at her with wide eyes, "You? Drive my _baby_?"

"… Yes."

Derek pulled out of the driveway, "Fat chance."

That, by the way, deserved a punch from Casey.

---

At school, Casey went to her guidance counselor to vent.

"He's such a jerk!" she groaned as she sat down in her usual chair.

Her guidance counselor tilted his head and said the first thing that came to his mind, "Who, Derek?"

"No, Sam," Casey said as she crossed her arms across her chest with a huff.

"Boyfriend Sam?"

"_Ex –_ boyfriend Sam."

He looked surprised,"Ex? What happened?"

"HeandEmilyhadanaffairbehindmybackImean,seriouslymy_bestfriend_andmy_boyfriend --_" Casey rambled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me get this straight. Sam and Emily had a fling behind your back?"

"Yes! And I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

"Well, I think your relationship with Emily is –"

"I know! I should talk with Emily because I'm being completely unfair to her … Even if she is my ex-best friend. Thanks!"

Casey dashed out of the room and he muttered, "Anytime."

---

Although Casey already established that she wanted to talk to Emily and be the fair person she was, she couldn't help but try and dodge Sam and his _mistress_. It was awfully hard seeing that they all had plenty of classes together and used to hang out all the time. But every time she saw Emily or Sam, she felt a sense of hatred arise in her despite the fact that she didn't want to. She couldn't help but feel angry with them and by the end of the day, was sick of their presence.

However, at the end of the day, Casey didn't close her locker in time. There was tension in the atmosphere as Emily went to her own locker that was right next to Casey's. Casey closed her locker and sighed.

"Hi, Emily," Casey said, her voice seemed forced.

Emily nodded silently and walked towards the exit nervously.

"Em, we need to talk," Casey said loudly and Emily turned around and walked back to her locker.

"About what?"

"About what happened."

"Casey…"

"I need to know what happened," Casey stated the truth.

Emily sighed and said, "You know how after you fought with Sam, you'd call me up and tell me your side of the story?"

Casey nodded her head for what she said was true.

Emily continued, "Well, one time I called Sam to hear his point of view."

"And you listened to _him_ and not your best friend?"

"Don't put it that way," Emily said, shaking her head.

"What way do I put it, then?"

"His stories made sense and one night he came over to my house with red, puffy eyes from crying."

Casey's mind cooked up a million scenarios of what they did that night and only asked her a simple question, "Why'd you do it, Em?"

"Because you can't have both of them!" Emily said loudly, staring straight at Casey with watery eyes.

Casey looked completely confused, "What?"

Emily mumbled something about how she had to go and Casey watched her leave the school grounds without ever looking back. Casey leaned back against her locker and tried to process what Emily said, but it made no sense. What did she mean by _both_? They were only talking about Sam, so why in the world would Emily bring in a completely new person in the conversation?

Casey walked to Derek's car and he had fallen asleep in the driver's seat with the air conditioner and music on. She sat down and smiled slightly at the sight of him sleeping. Then she shook her head violently to eliminate that odd feeling.

She nudged him softly, "Derek, wake up."

"Mmm, what?" Derek sat up straight and looked around in a confused manner for a few seconds.

"You plan on driving us home anytime soon?"

"Yeah, what took you so long?" he asked and pulled out of the school parking lot.

"I talked to Emily."

"You did, did you? So, what happened?" he asked with great interest.

"I asked her why she did what she did."

"And?"

"She gave me some bogus answer."

"Bogus?" Derek raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, she said _'You can't have both of them!' _" Casey said and looked out the window. "I wonder who the second person she was talking about."

Derek surprisingly swerved to the left and went back on track with an undistinguished expression on his face, "Did you see that road kill? Poor dog."

Casey looked at him strangely and he stayed quiet the rest of the ride home. It was odd because they didn't even fight this time and he still stayed silent. Once he got to his room, he hoped that Casey wouldn't see Sam with his black eye the next day. If she did, she might investigate and find out who that second guy was that Emily was talking about. And Derek didn't need her to find out … She was his stepsister, after all, and he felt the need to protect her. Even if it was from himself.

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Okay, so I'll admit that its not my best update ... But hopefully you guys enjoyed reading it. Keep the reviews coming. It helps to know that people like it. :) 

- Lina.


	11. Flirting & Staircases

Oh goodness gracious. It's been a little more than a month since I last updated. I'm really sorry! I've been completely wrapped up in schoolwork. Thankfully, the week of the 10th is spring break so look forward to more updates then. :)

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Life with Derek characters._

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The next morning, Derek walked into Casey's room while she was sleeping hoping that she'd be awake. She was asleep. That was a good thing because he had forgotten to knock. Yet, it was bad because he couldn't tell her what he was supposed to tell her. He looked at her for a couple seconds before realizing that he had a slight smile on his face. Disgusted at himself, he shook his head and sat on the foot of her bed. 

"Case, wake up!" he hissed at her and nudged her ankle.

Casey groaned, but woke up after realizing that it was Derek touching her. It was actually an awkward scenario after she woke up because they stared at each other for about three seconds in silence with his hand still on her ankle.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, moving up so that there was no physical contact between them at all.

He looked at her in confusion and then remembered why he was there, "Remember how I'm helping you make Sam wish he never cheated on you?"

Casey rubbed her eyes sleepily and nodded her head, "Yeah, why?"

"Do you know how to flirt?" he asked her bluntly.

She stared at him, "For the last time, I'm not going to be a slut!"

He looked at her for a couple seconds, trying to determine whether or not she could flirt.

"Did you hear me?" Casey asked him.

"Yes, I did. And no, you're not going to be a slut."

"Then why'd you ask me if I could flirt?"

He responded, "Just flirt in front of him casually today."

Casey stared at him with an "as if" expression.

Derek rolled his eyes and continued, "I'm not asking you to throw yourself at other guys. Just make Sam a little jealous. Plus, flirting does _not_ make you a slut."

She eyed him carefully and agreed unwillingly, "Fine, whatever. Get out now. I'm going to change."

He continued sitting at the foot of her bed, waiting to see how long he could test her patience. It didn't last very long, seeing that she threw her pillow at his head after about five seconds.

After Casey was done getting ready, she headed downstairs only to find Lizzie and Edwin alone in the kitchen eating breakfast. They were in some obviously light conversation before she broke into it.

"Where's Derek?" she asked, causing them both to look at her.

"He's waiting in the car already," Edwin answered.

Lizzie threw her a granola bar, "You can have the last one for breakfast."

Casey nodded a thank you and ran outside. It was always weird when Derek was in the car before she was. He usually took a longer time than she did, considering he wanted to look good for the ladies at school. He knew what they liked and he made sure he was exactly what they wanted.

When she sat in the passenger's seat, the music was already playing and the engine was already started. He began driving right after she fastened her seatbelt, causing her to be suspicious.

"Why are you so anxious to go to school?" she asked suspiciously.

He glanced at her, "The sooner school starts, the sooner it ends."

"Nice philosophy, you've got there," Casey replied sarcastically.

"Nice philosophy, you've got there," he mimicked her in an annoyingly high-pitched voice.

"I do not sound like that!"

He smirked, "Lets hope you don't sound like that when you flirt."

She rolled her eyes, "Of course, I don't."

"Fine, do a practice round and record yourself with your cell phone."

Casey looked at him, "Practice on what? You?"

Derek looked around the car, "Who else? Times like these make me question your intelligence."

"I always question your intelligence," she stated, looking out the window.

For some reason, that one comeback silenced him the rest of the car ride. He wasn't mad or anything, but his mind was wrapped around his genius plan of making Sam jealous until he realized that it wouldn't be the best time for Casey to start flirting. One reason was because she would see Sam's bruise. The second was that Derek himself might get a little jealous.

"Don't flirt today," he told her before she got out of the car.

She gave him a questioning look and rolled her eyes, "Sure, whatever."

---

At school, Derek walked around campus with his usual strut. However, with each step, he tried anxiously not to come across Emily, Sam and definitely not Casey in case she happened to run into the other two. He didn't want Casey to see Sam's bruise because he knew that it would stir up some chaos. He couldn't even remember a time where he was so cautious about where he stepped foot. His attempts were actually quite great considering he made it through the first four periods of school without making eye contact or having to strike up a conversation with any of them. He managed his usual "Hey"s and "What's up"s all until lunch arrived.

Derek sat down at his usual table, concentrating on the food on the tray in front of him. It didn't really look like food, to be honest. But he figured it couldn't be any worse from the lunch last Thursday.

"Derek Venturi, you are in big, big, big trouble!" shrieked a very familiar voice behind him.

He turned around to see Casey with her hands on her hips, completely out of breath. Being the hormonal teenager that he was, Derek's eyes couldn't help but wander to her chest and he swore she was teasing him with her continual deep breaths. Of course, his thoughts were interrupted as she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the staircase.

"What'd I do this time?" he asked with a roll of his eyes, sitting himself down on the stairs.

She stood in front of him, huffing loudly, "Derek! How could you?"

He figured that she saw Sam and all his black and blue glory.

"How could I what?" he asked, figuring he could play dumb for at least a minute or so.

"Punch Sam!"

His plan for playing dumb failed as he jumped up, covering his mouth with his hand. He looked around at the people walking by and gave them a pathetic smile to signal them to keep walking.

Casey pushed his hand away and continued to press her question, "Why'd you do it?"

He rolled his eyes again, "I don't know."

"How do you not know?"

Derek shrugged his shoulders, "Why do you care anyway? You should be happy."

Casey crossed her arms in front of her chest and didn't respond, breaking eye contact with him.

He stared at her in disbelief, "You still like him."

Casey looked at him and opened her mouth to answer, but he cut her off.

"You're unbelievable, Case. He broke your heart in the worst possible way and you still care for him."

He stared at her again for a couple seconds, shook his head and got up. He walked up the stairs, leaving Casey staring at the floor.

She didn't know why he punched Sam. Derek Venturi didn't go punching people for any random reason. He was stupid, but he wasn't that stupid. But then again, Casey wasn't there. She didn't know what made him throw the punch. She didn't know that Derek confronted Sam before her own talk with Emily. She didn't know what Sam explained in full detail what happened the night Emily came over to his house. She didn't know that Sam acted like it was no big deal and she didn't know that she was the reason for Derek even thinking of throwing the punch.

Casey huffed and went back to her lunch, trying to figure out why Derek got so moody all of the time. It made her angry that his emotions were always such a roller coaster. One moment he's nice to her, another he's evil. One second he's happy and the next he's mad. Frustrated, she continued eating, thinking about Derek the whole time.

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Siiiigh, another short chapter but I hope you liked it. Please review, though. I'm still sorry about my lack of updates, but I'm really trying. Remember, more updates during the week of the tenth. Yay for Spring Break:) 

- Lina.


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